The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is pleased to have assisted with funding for Australia, the most significant exhibition of Australian art ever to leave Australian shores and the largest exhibition of its kind to be mounted in the UK.

On show at the Royal Academy of Arts in London from 21 September to 8 December 2013, Australia surveys 200 years of Australian art, focusing on the influence of the Australian landscape on Australian artists.

The exhibition is a collaboration between the Royal Academy of Arts and the National Gallery of Australia. The works have been sourced from the NGA and public collections across Australia.

The Australian High Commissioner to the UK, Mike Rann, said the exhibition is a major plank of the High Commission’s cultural diplomacy program which underscores the depth and breadth of the connections between the two countries.

“The exhibition celebrates Australian art and culture like never before. We are very proud of Australia’s unique and diverse creative and visual arts and our love for the landscape. The exhibition also illustrates the unique connection that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have with ‘country’,” he said.

The exhibition, and Australian art more generally, will also be supported through a series of 90 satellite events, including the Arthur Boyd Lecture, which was delivered by Christian Thompson, a South Australian Aboriginal artist whose work is part of the exhibition.

To complement the exhibition, the Australian High Commission has launched ‘Australian Nexus’ www.ausnexus.co.uk , an online hub connecting Australia and the UK. The website’s event listings will bring together a network of Australian art, culture and business activities in the UK.